In His Arms
by Animegirl1129
Summary: Batman Forever. After Dick gets injured, Bruce takes it upon himself to take care of him. Slash.


In His Arms

**_In the Batman Forever universe. So, yeah, Val Kilmer and Chris O'Donnell. Been writing this in text messages to myself over the last week and yeah, finally got around to typing it up. Enjoy._**

* * *

He wakes up feeling like he's floating on a cloud. Or, at the very least, an incredibly comfortable mattress. One look through a half lidded eye confirms he has not been sleeping in his own room, and, had he not recognized his surrounds, he probably would have been quite panicked by that fact, but the familiar sight of Bruce's room calms him.

Curious as to why he's in Bruce's room, in Bruce's bed, he makes a move to sit up, which turns out to be a not so great decision. Pain shoots through his body the second he shifts even the slightest bit. He screws his eyes shut and practically whimpers in pain as he tries to fall back against the soft pillows.

Only… he doesn't hit the blankets like he was expecting to.

It turns out that he isn't alone in the king sized bed. Bruce is sitting against the headboard right behind him, and its then that he realizes that a sleeping Bruce's strong arms are wrapped tightly around his frame. When he falls back, it's to land against the muscle of Bruce's chest instead of the monogrammed pillows he'd been expecting.

Then it hits him. He's sharing a bed with Bruce Wayne. The Batman. The Dark Knight. The man has many names in Gotham City, and he is one of very few privy to all sides of him. The number of people who'd kill to be in his place right now is staggering. But, none of that matters to him right now, because lying like this makes everything hurt less.

He's just about to sneak out of bed, against his own better judgment, when Bruce's sleep thick voice stops him before he can start.

"You should sleep a while longer. It's still early." Bruce informs him, and suddenly sleeping sounds like the best idea he's ever heard.

Dick nestles further into the comfort and warmth radiating off of the other man, and allows his eyes to drift closed. "Yeah." He falls asleep to the feel of Bruce's fingers absently tracing up and down his arm.

* * *

The next time he manages to bring himself back to consciousness, Dick is alone in bed. But, Alfred is hovering over him with a tray of breakfast food.

"Good morning, Master Dick. Glad to see you're awake again." The old man tells him.

Dick nods, offering a small smile as he nibbles on a slice of toast. It's all he feels up to eating and he stills doesn't quite remember why he's in such agony. He doesn't ask, though. Someone will tell him eventually and he's feeling a lot weaker without Bruce here. The purpling bruises appearing on large bits of his skin provide some indication of what Bruce is letting Batman handle - he never takes it too well when someone actually manages to hurt his Robin.

Alfred offers him two pills and a glass of water. "For the pain." He says, and gathers up the dishes once Dick is nearly asleep again.

The last thing he hears before he's out again is, "Don't worry, lad. He'll be back before you know it."

* * *

But, four hours later, Bruce still isn't home. Since Alfred's left him alone, he takes it upon himself to drag himself downstairs to the den. The trip is painful and takes about twenty times as long as it usually does, and he knows Alfred, or Bruce, or both will probably kill him once they figure out that he's out of bed, but he's tired of laying up there doing nothing.

He manages to drape himself across the couch in a position that allows about as much comfort as he's going to get without Bruce here. He sets to work on a project for one of his college classes, but, as it turns out, that ends up being something akin to mind numbingly boring and he ends up drifting off again after just fifteen minutes.

Guess that trip down here tired him out more than he thought.

* * *

Alfred is hovering over him again, this time. He's been covered with a blanket and a tray of food is sitting on the adjacent coffee table. Dick eats enough to appease the mother-henning butler and takes two more pain pills

It's dark out now, and he can't help but wish Bruce were back.

* * *

He feels like he's floating again. Only, this time on air instead of a cloud. He blinks lazily, trying to bring himself back to full awareness, but it's no use. He's exhausted. He doesn't know what he was expecting to see, but it wasn't this.

Bruce is carrying him through the halls, probably back to his room. Dick knows he's not exactly light - one has to build up a lot of muscle when playing the Robin to Bruce's Batman - but Bruce is maneuvering him with ease.

"Where are we going?" He asks, hoping to sound alert enough to walk, but the fatigue in his voice gives him away. He's about ready to fall asleep again, even though he's spent practically the whole day that way.

Bruce is still silent, though. At least until he gets Dick through the last doorway and settles him back on the bed. He shuts the door and lies down beside Dick. They're both on their sides, lying chest to chest and Dick feels a little better already. At times like this its hard to believe there was a time when he wasn't with Bruce.

"You should have stayed in bed." Bruce says, finally, and Dick can tell he's not mad, just… concerned. "You had a rough night."

"What happened? I.. I don't really remember any of it." He admits. He half expects Bruce to drag him to the Alfred for a full examination to figure out why, but Bruce doesn't move to do so, just pulls him closer.

Bruce sighs. "I kind of expected that."

Now, curious, he repeats, "Bruce, I want to know what happened." He sounds a lot weaker than he expects and it seems to reflect on the other man's face.

In a surprising move of comfort, Bruce shifts impossibly closer, fingers massaging one of the few bits of bruise-free skin on Dick's back. "I found you. Near where those reports said Bane was rumored to be hiding out. Don't do that to me again, okay? We work together or not at all from now on. Okay?"

Dick can hear the sincerity, the fear, in the hero's voice. He nods. "Okay."

Bruce seems relieved by his answer and subconsciously tightens his hold on Dick. "Alright."

"Why are we in your room?"

"Bane did quite a number on you before I got to you. Last night, you were… pretty bad off. Alfred did everything he could, worked his magic, but I was still…" He trailed off.

"Worried?"

Bruce smiles, moving forward to press a quick kiss to Dick's lips. "Something like that."


End file.
